MINNEAPOLIS - When it comes to feeding newborns, experts agree, there's nothing like mother's milk. But now, a Minneapolis hospital has teamed up with a California biotech company to try to improve on Mother Nature.
The University of Minnesota Medical Center is collecting the "raw material" - breast milk - from nursing mothers who are willing to donate what they don't need.
Then it's shipped to Prolacta Bioscience of Monrovia, Calif., where it's modified and sold back to hospitals for $26 to $43 an ounce.
click to read more...
Monday, October 30, 2006
Now's your chance to sound off on WIC changes (Daily Herald)
Proposed changes to food packages for the Special Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children would increase the variety of available foods while encouraging breast-feeding and reducing sugar, cholesterol and fat.
It's about time, according to the National WIC Association, which has been lobbying for the changes to the 32-year-old program for more than 10 years. And the U.S. Department of Agriculture is looking for input. A public comment period is running through Nov. 6 to give people a chance to weigh in on the proposal, which will affect 8 million women and children from birth to age 5 , including 14,000 in Utah County.
The alterations, if approved, include the addition of fruits and vegetables, baby food, dairy alternatives and beans, while reducing infant formula for breast-fed infants, and eggs, milk and juice for women and children. The proposal also would eliminate juice for all infants and whole milk for participants age 2 years and older.
"The changes are really based on what we know about nutrition science," said Tae Chong, public policy nutritionist for the National WIC Association.
click to read more...
It's about time, according to the National WIC Association, which has been lobbying for the changes to the 32-year-old program for more than 10 years. And the U.S. Department of Agriculture is looking for input. A public comment period is running through Nov. 6 to give people a chance to weigh in on the proposal, which will affect 8 million women and children from birth to age 5 , including 14,000 in Utah County.
The alterations, if approved, include the addition of fruits and vegetables, baby food, dairy alternatives and beans, while reducing infant formula for breast-fed infants, and eggs, milk and juice for women and children. The proposal also would eliminate juice for all infants and whole milk for participants age 2 years and older.
"The changes are really based on what we know about nutrition science," said Tae Chong, public policy nutritionist for the National WIC Association.
click to read more...
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Breast-feeding and the workplace (The Oregonian)
Oregon moms say time and space is often lacking despite recognition of the benefits to their babies
For two years, federal health officials have tried to cajole more moms to breast-feed their infants, launching a nationwide ad campaign that likened the risks of formula feeding, in one TV spot, to riding a mechanical bull while pregnant.
But the campaign has done little to help moms overcome one of the biggest barriers to breast-feeding -- the workplace.
Federal and state lawmakers have declined in recent years to force companies to guarantee female employees a time and place to nurse or express milk at work, with business lobbyists successfully arguing that a one-size-fits-all approach isn't effective in the workplace.
click to read more...
For two years, federal health officials have tried to cajole more moms to breast-feed their infants, launching a nationwide ad campaign that likened the risks of formula feeding, in one TV spot, to riding a mechanical bull while pregnant.
But the campaign has done little to help moms overcome one of the biggest barriers to breast-feeding -- the workplace.
Federal and state lawmakers have declined in recent years to force companies to guarantee female employees a time and place to nurse or express milk at work, with business lobbyists successfully arguing that a one-size-fits-all approach isn't effective in the workplace.
click to read more...
Breast-feeding: Getting employers to latch on (Oregon Live)
Perhaps you read The Sunday Oregonian's Business Section package about breast-feeding accommodations in the workplace. Two Oregon moms, Rosetta Thuresson and Cathy Kemmerer, shared how they tried to balance breast-feeding and work. Rosetta was unsuccessful and actually quit her job to start her own home-based business. Cathy still works and pumps breastmilk, but she'd never say it's easy.
When I interviewed them, I was struck by how articulately they recounted their struggles and successes. Both kindly agreed to let me post edited versions of our interviews so you could read about their experiences in their own words. Just click on the attachment below.
click to read more...
When I interviewed them, I was struck by how articulately they recounted their struggles and successes. Both kindly agreed to let me post edited versions of our interviews so you could read about their experiences in their own words. Just click on the attachment below.
click to read more...
Cow's milk allergy prevalent among children but often misdiagnosed (Singapore News)
SINGAPORE: Cow's milk allergy is one of the most common childhood allergies but it is often misdiagnosed, say doctors.
It is believed that 3.5% of all children who have severe reactions to food are allergic to cow's milk.
Angry rashes plagued Charlotte Lum from the time she was just five weeks old.
Doctors she went to told her parents it was eczema.
The girl continued to suffer till she was three.
Her mother, Stella Lum, said: "We didn't think it was an allergy. We thought it was an eczema problem, that was the diagnosis from the paediatricians from the very beginning. So, we made sure that everything was clean and we gave her the appropriate cream for her bath and daily use. In terms of food allergy, it didn't occur to us, until it was highlighted by her teacher and also when I shared this information with my friend who has been treating skin problem. She said that maybe we should do a test on the food."
Looking back, her parents realised the allergy started at the same time they began supplementing Charlotte's diet of breast milk with formula milk.
click to read more...
It is believed that 3.5% of all children who have severe reactions to food are allergic to cow's milk.
Angry rashes plagued Charlotte Lum from the time she was just five weeks old.
Doctors she went to told her parents it was eczema.
The girl continued to suffer till she was three.
Her mother, Stella Lum, said: "We didn't think it was an allergy. We thought it was an eczema problem, that was the diagnosis from the paediatricians from the very beginning. So, we made sure that everything was clean and we gave her the appropriate cream for her bath and daily use. In terms of food allergy, it didn't occur to us, until it was highlighted by her teacher and also when I shared this information with my friend who has been treating skin problem. She said that maybe we should do a test on the food."
Looking back, her parents realised the allergy started at the same time they began supplementing Charlotte's diet of breast milk with formula milk.
click to read more...
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Separation of detained mothers from breastfed babies to stop (Guardian Unlimited)
Immigration officials are to be ordered to stop separating breastfeeding mothers from their babies in the drive to deport failed asylum seekers after the government was told that the practice flouts UN conventions.
In August, Guardian Unlimited revealed that in at least two cases earlier this year mothers had been detained in immigration and removal centres away from their pre-weaned children.
The cases involved Mrs N, a Vietnamese asylum seeker, and her six-month-old baby, and Mrs P, a Turkish asylum seeker, and her 15-month-old infant who she was still breastfeeding on medical advice.
Ministers were warned that the cases, which campaigners fear are not the only ones, "fly in the face of a number of UN resolutions and conventions".
click to read more...
In August, Guardian Unlimited revealed that in at least two cases earlier this year mothers had been detained in immigration and removal centres away from their pre-weaned children.
The cases involved Mrs N, a Vietnamese asylum seeker, and her six-month-old baby, and Mrs P, a Turkish asylum seeker, and her 15-month-old infant who she was still breastfeeding on medical advice.
Ministers were warned that the cases, which campaigners fear are not the only ones, "fly in the face of a number of UN resolutions and conventions".
click to read more...
Promoting Breastfeeding, Promoting Guilt? (Scoop)
Biocultural anthropologist and author, winner of the American Anthropological Society Margaret Mead award in 1995, Katherine A. Dettwyler, will be presenting at the Le Leche League Conference at the Auckland Conference Centre on Tuesday, 24 October.
Dr Dettwyler has conducted research on child health and growth for more than 25 years.
“Health care professionals say they don't want to give mothers complete and accurate information about the risks of artificial infant formula because they are worried about making mothers feel guilty about not breastfeeding,” she says. “Guilt is often used to promote healthy behaviors in health advertising.”
click to read more...
Dr Dettwyler has conducted research on child health and growth for more than 25 years.
“Health care professionals say they don't want to give mothers complete and accurate information about the risks of artificial infant formula because they are worried about making mothers feel guilty about not breastfeeding,” she says. “Guilt is often used to promote healthy behaviors in health advertising.”
click to read more...
Breastfeeding lowers mental health risks (The Australian)
BABIES that are breastfed for longer than six months are less likely to develop mental health problems in childhood, new research shows.
But the number of Australian mothers who feed their infants on breastmilk beyond the six-month mark falls far short of recommended national standards.
The findings are the latest to come from a ground-breaking study which tracked more than 2500 Western Australian children over the past 16 years.
Babies breastfed for less than six months had a 52 per cent increased risk of mental health problems at two years of age than those children breastfed for longer.
This risk increased to 55 per cent by the age of six and 61 per cent two years later, but had dropped to 37 per cent by age 10.
click to read more...
But the number of Australian mothers who feed their infants on breastmilk beyond the six-month mark falls far short of recommended national standards.
The findings are the latest to come from a ground-breaking study which tracked more than 2500 Western Australian children over the past 16 years.
Babies breastfed for less than six months had a 52 per cent increased risk of mental health problems at two years of age than those children breastfed for longer.
This risk increased to 55 per cent by the age of six and 61 per cent two years later, but had dropped to 37 per cent by age 10.
click to read more...
Monday, October 23, 2006
Paris: Protesting nursing mothers breastfeed in public (Nigerian Tribune)
ONE hundred young mothers gathered to breastfeed their babies in central Paris on Sunday afternoon to campaign against the taboo on nursing in public in France.
“There are lots of prejudices against breastfeeding, especially in professional environments,” said Marie-France Astoin, co-ordinator for the Big Breastfeed demonstration outside Paris’s Sainte Eustache church, one of several taking place simultaneously in France’s major cities.
Astoin decried France’s level of breastfeeding, which at around 50%, is the lowest in Europe. During the World Health Organisation’s International Breastfeeding Week, the UN body and partner organisations are trying to promote mother’s milk as a newborn’s best defence against diarrhoea and respiratory infection.
“It’s not at all a new feminist fight,” said Monica, mother of Raphael. “Nothing beats a mother’s milk, it’s natural, so why give something artificial in its place?” Nearby, a young father ambled past wearing a placard marked “breast is best”.
click to read more...
“There are lots of prejudices against breastfeeding, especially in professional environments,” said Marie-France Astoin, co-ordinator for the Big Breastfeed demonstration outside Paris’s Sainte Eustache church, one of several taking place simultaneously in France’s major cities.
Astoin decried France’s level of breastfeeding, which at around 50%, is the lowest in Europe. During the World Health Organisation’s International Breastfeeding Week, the UN body and partner organisations are trying to promote mother’s milk as a newborn’s best defence against diarrhoea and respiratory infection.
“It’s not at all a new feminist fight,” said Monica, mother of Raphael. “Nothing beats a mother’s milk, it’s natural, so why give something artificial in its place?” Nearby, a young father ambled past wearing a placard marked “breast is best”.
click to read more...
Sunday, October 22, 2006
A Short History Of Donor Milk (Star Tribune)
• 2250 B.C.: Code of Hammurabi describes attributes for good "wet nurses" -- women who breast-fed other mothers' babies.
click to read more...
click to read more...
Got (extra) milk? At the U, it's a warm commodity (Star Tribune)
Some Minnesota moms' breast milk is going to a for-profit California company, which modifies it and sells it to hospitals. But skeptics wonder if the company's high-tech treatment of the milk --and its high prices -- are necessary.
When it comes to feeding newborns, experts agree, there's nothing like mother's milk. But now, a Minneapolis hospital has teamed up with a California biotech company to try to improve on Mother Nature.
The University of Minnesota Medical Center is collecting the "raw material" -- breast milk -- from nursing mothers who are willing to donate what they don't need.
Then it's shipped to Prolacta Bioscience of Monrovia, Calif., where it's modified and sold back to hospitals for $26 to $43 an ounce.
click to read more...
When it comes to feeding newborns, experts agree, there's nothing like mother's milk. But now, a Minneapolis hospital has teamed up with a California biotech company to try to improve on Mother Nature.
The University of Minnesota Medical Center is collecting the "raw material" -- breast milk -- from nursing mothers who are willing to donate what they don't need.
Then it's shipped to Prolacta Bioscience of Monrovia, Calif., where it's modified and sold back to hospitals for $26 to $43 an ounce.
click to read more...
Friday, October 20, 2006
Lactnet empowers the frontlines of breastfeeding education, one email at a time
London, UK (October 20, 2006) – Lactnet – a unique Internet community providing up-to-the-minute information and ongoing support to breastfeeding educators worldwide – has won the grand prize in L-Soft's 2005-2006 LISTSERV® Choice Awards program, the only global recognition program for email list excellence.
Lactnet is a forum for cutting-edge information, discussion and support focusing on best practices, emerging thoughts and current research. It is designed for lactation consultants and others – such as lay breastfeeding counselors, nurses, doctors, midwives, public health advocates, pharmacologists, marketing experts, writers, journalists, scientists, dieticians and doulas – involved in providing support to mothers in breastfeeding their infants and young children.
click to read more...
Lactnet is a forum for cutting-edge information, discussion and support focusing on best practices, emerging thoughts and current research. It is designed for lactation consultants and others – such as lay breastfeeding counselors, nurses, doctors, midwives, public health advocates, pharmacologists, marketing experts, writers, journalists, scientists, dieticians and doulas – involved in providing support to mothers in breastfeeding their infants and young children.
click to read more...
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Tiffany trial was an error (NorthJersey.com)
Rosa Almond of Wayne merely wanted to breast-feed her baby.
No problem, right?
Our world respects nursing moms. Our enlightened Garden State even has a law allowing women to breast-feed "in any location of a place of public accommodation, resort or amusement wherein the mother is otherwise permitted."
Basically anywhere.
So how did a baby's need to feed become a civil rights case?
click to read more...
No problem, right?
Our world respects nursing moms. Our enlightened Garden State even has a law allowing women to breast-feed "in any location of a place of public accommodation, resort or amusement wherein the mother is otherwise permitted."
Basically anywhere.
So how did a baby's need to feed become a civil rights case?
click to read more...
Monday, October 16, 2006
The MomME Blog - A Breast by Any Other Name......
...I find it no less than absolutely outrageous that the God-given reason for breasts is a source of embarassment and outright mortification for most Americans. Bottles? Adorable. Fork and knife? Wonderful. Human milk? Disgusting. Score one for Hugh Hefner. And the moms of this land of freedom are just S.O.L. But only if they so choose. There are no state laws against breastfeeding in public, although authorities will often try to apply public indecency statutes to send nursing moms back behind closed doors. There are an increasingly large number of laws nationwide that specifically protect breastfeeding in public, including here in Maine...
click to read more...
click to read more...
Low breastfeeding rate due to fear (Irish Health.com)
Fear and embarrassment have been cited as the main reasons why Ireland has such a low breastfeeding rate, according to the latest irishhealth.com viewers' poll.
We asked our registered readers why they thought Ireland has such a low breastfeeding rate.
Twenty-four per cent said this is due to a lack of practical support, for example, from hospitals; while 42% said it is due to fear or embarrassment.
click to read more...
We asked our registered readers why they thought Ireland has such a low breastfeeding rate.
Twenty-four per cent said this is due to a lack of practical support, for example, from hospitals; while 42% said it is due to fear or embarrassment.
click to read more...
Library is welcome to breastfeeding (The Daily Evergreen)
Iwas very surprised to read in The Daily Evergreen last Tuesday that the Neill Public Library, which I direct, was being attacked for a policy it did not have.
The column suggests that we had not “gotten the memo” about breastfeeding in public. Nothing could be further from the truth. If you are a patron of the library you know that one of the strengths of the library is to welcome and support caregivers and children. We spend a good deal of your tax dollars and our energy enhancing education about child rearing – which of course includes breastfeeding. Such a life-affirming act, which by the way is one of the most important contributors to infant health, is welcome in the library and is routine, in accordance with Revised Code of Washington 43.70.640. Perhaps this had not been noticed by some newer library staff or some members of the public who may not be aware how often this occurs at the library.
So what really happened?...
click to read more...
The column suggests that we had not “gotten the memo” about breastfeeding in public. Nothing could be further from the truth. If you are a patron of the library you know that one of the strengths of the library is to welcome and support caregivers and children. We spend a good deal of your tax dollars and our energy enhancing education about child rearing – which of course includes breastfeeding. Such a life-affirming act, which by the way is one of the most important contributors to infant health, is welcome in the library and is routine, in accordance with Revised Code of Washington 43.70.640. Perhaps this had not been noticed by some newer library staff or some members of the public who may not be aware how often this occurs at the library.
So what really happened?...
click to read more...
JoAnne W. Scott, 62; Advocate of Breast-Feeding
JoAnne W. Scott, an advocate of breast-feeding who helped advance the professional qualifications of lactation consultants around the world, died Sept. 18 of breast cancer at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, Va. She was 62.
Rarely heard of a generation ago, lactation consultants are now on the staffs of hospitals, maternity and pediatric centers and private medical practices in dozens of countries. Largely through Scott's efforts, the field has become a licensed profession with rigorous requirements for certification.
click to read more...
Rarely heard of a generation ago, lactation consultants are now on the staffs of hospitals, maternity and pediatric centers and private medical practices in dozens of countries. Largely through Scott's efforts, the field has become a licensed profession with rigorous requirements for certification.
click to read more...
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Woman Loses Breast Feeding Lawsuit Against Tiffany (WNBC.com)
PATERSON, N.J. -- A New Jersey woman has lost a lawsuit alleging she was discriminated against by Tiffany & Co. for breast-feeding her baby in public.
A Superior Court jury rendered its decision Thursday in the case of Rosa Almond, a Passaic County woman who was nursing her 4-month-old daughter at the Tiffany store in the Short Hills Mall in December 2002.
click to read more...
A Superior Court jury rendered its decision Thursday in the case of Rosa Almond, a Passaic County woman who was nursing her 4-month-old daughter at the Tiffany store in the Short Hills Mall in December 2002.
click to read more...
Saturday, October 14, 2006
Nursing My Daughter, and Some Grievances (New York Times)
...I took off my shoes, put my bags into the bin, and dumped the ice that was keeping my newly pumped milk cool. Then the security agent said that I couldn’t take any milk onto the plane unless I had a baby with me. I told him that I wouldn’t have milk in a bag if I had my baby with me.
We started arguing. I feared I was going to miss my flight. I knew it was fruitless to try to explain how much this milk meant to me, that it was, at this point, my only primal connection to my baby back home. It was mother’s milk — was I really going to have to throw it in the trash? Yes. I tossed it into the gray can.
Sadness shot through me, then anger. “How many women have you made throw away breast milk today?”
“Six,” he said....
click to read more...
We started arguing. I feared I was going to miss my flight. I knew it was fruitless to try to explain how much this milk meant to me, that it was, at this point, my only primal connection to my baby back home. It was mother’s milk — was I really going to have to throw it in the trash? Yes. I tossed it into the gray can.
Sadness shot through me, then anger. “How many women have you made throw away breast milk today?”
“Six,” he said....
click to read more...
Friday, October 13, 2006
Breast-feeding mom tells jury of humiliation (NorthJersey.com)
A Wayne woman suing Tiffany & Co. for sex discrimination testified in state court Wednesday that an employee who saw her breast-feeding in the store angrily told her to go into the bathroom to do it.
"I was crying. I was very upset," said Rosa Almond, who testified that she went to the Short Hills Tiffany & Co. store in December 2002 with her two children and a friend to do Christmas shopping. She is seeking monetary damages for emotional distress.
A lawyer for Tiffany maintained that the incident was merely a "flawed interaction" between an employee and a customer in a cramped store hallway during the hectic holiday shopping season.
Defense lawyer Kelly Bird, in an opening statement before jurors in Paterson, also raised questions of gender discrimination and whether they apply. "Not all women choose to breast-feed. It's a choice, not a requirement," she said.
click to read more...
"I was crying. I was very upset," said Rosa Almond, who testified that she went to the Short Hills Tiffany & Co. store in December 2002 with her two children and a friend to do Christmas shopping. She is seeking monetary damages for emotional distress.
A lawyer for Tiffany maintained that the incident was merely a "flawed interaction" between an employee and a customer in a cramped store hallway during the hectic holiday shopping season.
Defense lawyer Kelly Bird, in an opening statement before jurors in Paterson, also raised questions of gender discrimination and whether they apply. "Not all women choose to breast-feed. It's a choice, not a requirement," she said.
click to read more...
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